‘Re-segretation’ becoming an issue in some suburban schools, study finds

Minority enrollment in suburban school districts has exploded since the early 1990s, and Hispanic students account for most of that growth, a report released Tuesday finds.

But the data show that while districts outside urban and rural areas have seen remarkable gains in black, Hispanic and Asian students from 1993 to 2007, schools within some of those districts have grown more segregated.

“In spite of the rapid demographic changes at the level of the school district, when you actually look at the schools kids attend, there still might be issues of racial and ethnic balance,” says Richard Fry, a senior research associate for the Pew Hispanic Center and author of the report.